Please pray
In recent blogs I have mentioned my grandson, Payson. He was born prematurely in August. He has had multiple health challenges and yesterday had surgery again. This time to put him on a ventilator. It’s not a life or death kind of situation – he can breathe on his own but his trachea can collapse and he can’t get air. Scary. So the ventilator kicks in and gives him air. It’s quite serious, far more so than we first thought.
My daughter had so hoped to have him home for Christmas. But that is not to be. She is sad. When he is allowed home he will need 24 hour nursing care. I am now entering a new arena. Our family which is quite large has been so fortunate to have good health – no cancer, no major accidents – we tend to take it for granted. No longer. We now have a precious little one who will need extra from us. As well as my daughter and her husband – extra care, understanding, support. When she called me yesterday she was tired and asking, “Why?”. I had no answers to give. There are no answers. And each question spawns new ones…
It is so hard to see your little one so helpless, so dependent, struggle. I remember having to put this same daughter in the hospital at 9 months because she had developed pneumonia. She was so small laying so still in that hospital crib. I could do nothing but turn her over to the care of the medical team. I watched from across the room and prayed. Now I am back in much the same place – completely dependant trusting God to take care of that which I have no control over. Turning them over to Him. He cares for those that I love so dearly – more than anything in this world. He knows what He is doing and He is in total control. He is trustworthy and will do what is best for all concerned.
Seems to me I wrote a book about this…God is having me practice fearing not tomorrow because He is already there. Payson’s future is in God’s hands. I will choose to trust Him for Payson, Windsor and her little family. Will you please pray for them when you think of them. Thank you.
As I was reading this blog many words from a book I am now reading jumped out in my memory. “Remember His character”, “He planned our days before we were born” etc. The book I am NOW reading: “Fear Not Tomorrow God is Already There”. Could I recommend the book, it’s got good stuff in it!!
Yes. You are absolutely right. I was just e-mailing a friend that exact thought – “seems to me I wrote a book about not fearing tomorrow becasue God is aleready there. I think He is asking me to put the rubber to the road”! Funny how He does that!
Have a wonderful Christmas as you celebrate God breaking into history to get His hands dirty. Only God could come up with a plan like that! God bless you.
Hi Ruth,
I pray God’s peace over you and your entire family. In April my daughter was in ICU in a Little Rock hospital for close to a month. Teams of doctors could not diagnose the source of a bacterial infection that was threatening her very life. One night as I was so panicked and discouraged, I found myself clutching the carpet at 2:00 A.M. in the home of my son-in-law’s parents. God gave to me the verse 1Cor. 2:3…Paul speaks of being filled with fear and trembling. That particular verse didn’t give me much comfort except to confirm that God knew my heart. As I continued reading,however, the next few verses supplied extreme peace. “Trust not in the wisdom of men’s words but in the power of God’s Spirit.” May the peace and power of God’s Spirit minister to you all on this Christmas Eve. God bless you and your ministry. Love, Pat
Thank you. God’s Spirit comforts us as well as interprets those prayers which are mere groans. He understands and takes these groans to the very throne of God where they are heard by a tender father’s heart.
How is your daughter doing?
Have a blessed Christmas season. I enjoyed going out last night with my oldest daughter and her family to celebrate my birthday – belatedly. What a kick to be with my rambunctious grandchildren – the wait staff was more than patient and the chef was a delight. He came out and got the two older kids (3 and 6) and took them back to the kitchen to get a cookie each! He is a great chef on lots of levels. If ever in Charlottesville, VA take yourself for a treat to Savour. Excellent food!
My husband gave me an outdoor thermometer for my birthday – it read 18 degrees this morning! Burrr. He also gave me the compete DVD set of the PBS series As Time Goes By. What fun – I will anticpate many eveings curled up watching that show with him. It is a favorite. With Judi Dench.
Again, thank you for your encouraging words.
It’s inspiring to see that in the midst of your anguish over your precious grandson, you are able to celebrate life. (I’ll have to check out that PBS series!)
I was encouraged to read that your father is doing well. What a powerful pillar of faith he is to past, present, and future generations!
My daughter has returned to full-time work as a middle school English teacher. She is 25 and is the oldest of my three children. I have a son who is 23 and my baby girl will be 18 on January 20th. (We’re living that final semester of her high school experience!)
My precious husband died on November 20, 2005. Our family dynamics have undergone drastic changes, and I still feel somewhat “stuck.” I teach middle school language arts, and I am blessed with a loving community as well as an awesome church family. Like you, I find both encouragement as well as discouragement when I review my journals from the past four years. I can certainly see God’s protection and presence through every crisis, yet I sometimes feel that I’ve made very little progress in moving beyond my grief. I’m having a hard time adjusting to the “widow” label at age 49.
I recently read your book “In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart.” It reminded me that I need to be more sensitive to those lives that touch mine. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been issued the deed to “pain,” and my self-absorption has created a gap that separates me from others. Even though you seem somewhat self-critical of those moments in your life when you have rapidly made decisions to “get on” with life…I found myself admiring and wishing for that trait in myself. It seems that since Nov. 20, 2005, I am simply “stuck”…mourning for moments that will never be.
Anyway, it’s a new year, and I resolve to try to overcome this stagnant cycle by cultivating joy. Thanks for being one very special source of joy in my life. I continue to pray for little Payson (as well as Windsor). May God expand your ministry in the year ahead as you continue to reach out to others. Love, Pat
Your comments brought tears to my eyes. I told God while I was in my “mess” that if He ever wanted to use it, He could- never dreaming He would take me up on it!
Thank you for taking the time to write…we are fellow pilgrims on this unpredictabel path called life.
Be encouraged this day that God never wastes anything and, though you may feel stuck – He is at work in your life. And what He does is always good. Take that as hope today!
Ruth
PS – The PBS series, As Time Goes By, is off the air, I think. So maybe you can get it at your library.